Asura no Ashikabi
by The Ethereal Blade
Summary: Naruto's plan was simple. Move to the capital of Shinto Teito, go with the flow, and try to figure out what to do with the rest of his life. Everything changes when he encounters the Water Sekirei and becomes involved in the Sekirei Plan. Now with a purpose as an Ashikabi, it is up to him to come out on top and ascend to the heavens.
1. The Water Sekirei

**1. The Water Sekirei**

Even a couple weeks, Naruto still could not quite get used to the sights of Shinto Teito. As the capital of Japan and the place where Mid-Bio Informatics made its headquarters, it was only fair that the city was expansive and beautiful.

Following his graduation two weeks earlier, he had moved to Shinto Teito to explore his options. That was a nice way to say that he had no idea what he was going to do with his life. Until he figured it out, he was living in an apartment and working at a café in the city.

For the first time in a few weeks, he had a couple times off work, so he decided to go out and have some fun.

He was making his way down the street, headed towards his favorite place to eat, the Ichiraku Ramen Stand. On special occasions, his mother had taken to the stand when he was growing up. Sometimes, he father even managed to make it. With how often he was kept busy with his work, that was a very rare occasion though.

"Hey move it!" The angry yet feminine voice instantly made him aware of his surroundings.

Turning around, he saw two girls running towards him as if the shinigami was at their heels. They looked to be identical twins with blonde hair fashioned in pigtails and wore the same attire of a black dress with a yellow stripe going down the center of it.

He quickly leapt out of the way so that they would not run him over. He had no intention of getting in their way, and he somehow knew that he would have come out of the situation more harmed than they would have.

They did not even look at him as they rushed past him, though he was able to hear what the second girl in the back was saying. "Why did we have to attack a single number? We're going to die!"

"How were we supposed to know she'd be that strong? I thought she was another unwinged one!"

Naruto watched in confusion as the two girls ran around the corner and vanished.

"Watch out!" a woman yelled, bringing Naruto's attention up. He was greeted with the sight of a woman moving towards him in the air. Right away, he knew that she was going to land on him, but he could not react in time. Instead, she crashed into him, slamming him into the ground. He was momentarily dazed by the impact.

"Can you get off of me?" Naruto asked, seeing that he was face to face with one of the most attractive women that he had ever met. With her long blond hair and bright blue eyes, he could not help but take note of her beauty. She looked like a woman that was naturally beautiful without needing to use any cosmetics to look like she did. Maybe it was just him, but her manner of speech only seemed to enhance her beauty further.

While he honestly did not mind a woman like her being on top of him, he would have preferred to avoid the situation turning awkward when he body began to react to the large breasts that were pressing against his chest.

She quickly jumped to her feet and began looking around. Not seeing what she wanted, she turned her attention back to him, glaring angrily. "Where did those two go? Why did thee not move out of my way?"

Even with the anger in her face she was easily the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. With high leather boots, black leggings that went about halfway up her thigh, a white underdress that barely went below her nether regions and revealed a lot of her ample bosom, and a long black dress that covered more of her body before flowing down her lets like a cape. Being captivated by her beauty he failed to notice as her features darkened.

"Cease your staring! Why does thou continue to stare like a damned monkey?" She reached down and picked him up by the collar of his shirt with a surprising display of strength. She brought his face up close to hers. "Have you nothing to say monkey?"

"Sorry about that," Naruto said sheepishly. While he was tempted to point out that she was the one at fault for landing on him, he knew better than to speak carelessly around women like her. His mother had shown him how violent a beautiful woman could be. "Sorry for staring. I just didn't expect a beautiful woman to land on me."

Little did he know, his words caused a flash of intense heat to consume her entire body. It was a sensation that she had been feeling around him already, but that was the first time it was so intense. She released him and stumbled back a couple steps as though he had physically hit her. "Wha… what?" she asked as she clutched at her chest with her hand.

Seeing her face redden and her hand go to her chest, Naruto looked at her in concern. "Hey, are you okay?"

Her body grew even hotter as he neared her, making her eyes widen with realization dawning in them. If her body was reacting to him in such a way, then that meant….

"You bastard," she growled and drew herself up to her full height. "Thou are him… my Ashikabi! Thou have come here to take my body, but I shall not allow it!"

Naruto looked shocked by her words. He did not understand what she was talking about. It just made absolutely no sense to him. "What are you talking about?"

As some as the words were out, he felt a wave of water slam into him, knocking him to the ground. Just before it had hit him, he had seen her move her arm accordingly, but it was impossible that she had called forth the water. Abilities like that were only in stories, after all. Even so, he could not figure any other way he could have been soaked by water. There was not even a cloud in the sky.

"You bastard!" she shouted. "I shall never let thou take control of my body! I shall kill you first!"

"What did you just say?" Naruto asked sharply, making her actually look surprised. "Control your body? I would never even think to do something like that!" His mother would definitely kill him if he even entertained thoughts of that nature.

"Liar!" she yelled, grabbing him by his collar and pulling him to her face. "That is what all Ashikabi do! They take control of a Sekirei and use them however they desire!"

"What in the hell is an Ashikabi?" Naruto asked. After hearing her mention that word several times now, it seemed as if he needed to find out. "I don't know what an Ashikabi is, but I swear I would never treat a woman that way! I was always taught to treat a woman with respect and kindness. I'd never order any woman to do things for me, not even if she was my wife."

Her heart began to race even faster and she felt a surge of excitement at hearing that. "You bastard!"

That threw Naruto for a loop. He could not fathom how he had made the woman even angrier with him.

"How dare you, a lowly monkey, propose to me!" she continued, making his eyes widen.

"Propose?! But I didn't-" He did not get to finish what he was saying though. She cut him off as she began to shake him back and forth violently.

"Shameless! To just say such a thing to a helpless woman like that! Do you think I would ever agree to such a thing?"

"But, I didn't-"

She brought him to a sudden stop. Still holding him with one hand, a ball of water formed above her palm as if by magic. "I know what I have to do now. I'm going to have to kill you to protect myself!"

"Kill me?" She had to be joking. It was not the first time a girl had threatened to do that before, but none of them had ever gone through with it. Not even Sakura after she caught him peeping on the girls' volleyball team when they were changing back in high school. "Wait! I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding here."

She did not listen. Instead, she started to thrust the ball of water towards him.

He was not going to let himself be hit by her attack though. Using his left hand, he used the pressure point on her hand to make her drop him. Spinning around, he caught her right arm with his other hand and threw her over him his momentum.

He saw the look of shock on her face as she fell. Apparently, she had not expected him to defend himself.

"Thou hurled me," she said as she stood back up, seemingly unharmed. "How could a mere monkey do so?"

Turning around, she saw Naruto get in a defensive stance.

"I don't know what you are or why you want me dead, but I'm not going to sit back and let you do as you wish. I've been taught how to fight since I could walk."

"That is pleasant to hear. I would find it most boring if thou died with ease," she said forming water. "Mizu Matsuri!"

Suddenly the water flew towards him in the form of a cannon ball.

Rather than let it hit him, he dropped to a crouch, making it go over his head.

Springing forward, he delivered a kick to her stomach, making her stumble backwards. With the force of his kick, most people would have been coughing, but she looked largely unaffected. Once the fight was over, he was going to have to find out what she was.

She sent several more cannonballs of water at him, forcing him to employ all of his agility to dodge them. A couple of times, he felt the attacks graze him, leaving wet spots on his t-shirt and jeans.

He attacked her a few more times, delivering stronger hits than he would have normally used on a girl. Not even a full strength kick to the back of the head did more than make her stumble. Seeing that he lacked the strength to do anything more than push her around, he focused entirely on dodging after that.

Not once did he consider running away.

Standing across from her with his eyes focused on her, looking for any sign of what she would do next, Naruto appeared as though he was unaffected by the ten minute-long engagement. If he excelled in one area, it had to be stamina.

"I can keep this up as long as I need to," Naruto told her confidently. Really, he had a feeling that she could outlast him, but acting confident seemed to be a good strategy. "So are you going to tell me why you are trying to kill me now?"

"You proposed to me," she said, looking away. It appeared as if she was growing flustered rather than angry.

"What proposal?"

His words instantly made her furious. He was unable to stop her from reaching him and lifting him off the ground by his shirt once again.

"Do not dare try to take it back! You said you would never order me around, even if I was your wife! Those were thy words, were they not?"

"Yeah, but how is that a proposal?" he asked, genuinely confused.

She flattened her eyes dangerously. "It was a promise of how you would treat me as a wife. 'Tis the same thing as a proposal."

That was not something he had expected her to say. He supposed that she could have been right though, even if he had not meant it like that. For some reason, he had a feeling that telling her that would end with him in pain though. "Well, I didn't say I'd mind being married to a woman like you. Apart from the _trying to kill me_ bit, you seem pretty cool."

Naruto saw her cheeks turn a deep red as she let go of him and looked away. "You wouldn't?"

"Of course not! You seem like an amazing woman! You're beautiful and strong!" He had a tendency to go for that type of girl, actually. He preferred not to think about the fact that his mother was that type, but his past girlfriends were definitely that. In his opinion, at least. None of them quite compared to this woman though. "You could have anyone you wanted, so I'd have to be pretty lucky to get a girl like you."

"I see," she replied, staring him in the eyes. "Is that how you really feel?"

"Of course, I'm not the kind of guy that lies about things like that," Naruto told her, never breaking eye contact.

"It's… it's strange," she said with a calm and accepting look on her face.

He looked at her curiously, unsure what she was talking about.

"Up until now my heart has always been filled with rage at the idea of accepting an Ashikabi. But now, it is at peace." She placed both hands gently on his cheeks before she continued. "I think I must have been looking for you all this time. From now on, no one but me shall lay a hand upon thee.

"What do you mean?" He could feel his own heart racing. Her touch and the way she was looking at him had him starting to shake. He had never felt like that before, despite the fact that he had been in a couple relationships before he graduated.

She slowly leaned in. "I accept your proposal," she whispered just before she touched her lips to his.

Due to their proximity, Naruto could feel the heat coming off of their body. His eyes widened as wings of light seemed to form from her back.

Closing his eyes, he decided to do the only thing that really matter at that moment. He kissed her back, placing a hand on the back of her neck and wrapping the other one around her waist. Her lips were soft and sweet, a surprising fact after hearing all of her death threats earlier. The passion in her kiss was overwhelming him, though he had no desire to complain.

The kiss ended too soon in his opinion, but she placed her head against his neck and let out a sigh of content.

"What just happened?" Naruto asked, holding her close to him.

"You have become my Ashikabi and I your Sekirei. The union between us shall last now and forever."

"Oh, is that all?" Naruto asked, though it sounded far less sarcastic than he meant it too. Like her, he felt oddly content. "If this union is going to last that long, then we might as well tell each other our names. I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

"And I am #9 Tsukiumi, the Water Sekirei," she replied.

"It's nice to meet you, Tsukiumi-chan," he said.

"Just call me Tsukiumi. I am thy wife, so it is only proper," she corrected him.

He decided not to point out that getting married was not quite that simple, especially since he would not reach the age of majority for another two years. In countries like the United States of America or China, he would have already been an adult, but Japan's age of majority was twenty years old.

Instead, he asked a more pressing question. "Do you mind telling me what this Sekirei and Ashikabi business is about?"

* * *

Naruto's conversation with Tsukiumi was both enlightening and confusing at the same time.

She had started off telling him about Sekirei and Ashikabi, though she had been fairly vague as she did so. All he really knew about Sekirei in the end was that there were one hundred and eight Sekirei, they were generally superior to humans and possessed a single extraordinary ability, and a Seikirei's true power could only be achieved with the help of their Ashikabi. And as far as Ashikabi were concerned, all he really knew was that they were the ones that Sekirei were destined to meet, they could _wing_ a Sekirei with a kiss, and they were the key to a Sekirei using their strongest abilities.

He still had no idea what exactly a Sekirei or an Ashikabi were, but it seemed that he knew very important details at the same time.

After she finished explaining that, she had gone on to discuss something called _the Sekirei Plan_. Apparently, all of the Sekirei were being released into Shinto Teito so that they could find their Ashikabi, but that was only a small part of their task. They were to battle each other until only the Sekirei of a single Ashikabi remained. It was a game, apparently, and that simple fact offset any worries Naruto could have had.

Before Naruto could ask any further questions, his phone started to ring.

He did not recognize the number, but he answered it anyways. It seemed that it was a good thing he did too.

His screen was taken over with the image of a man in a white suit and wild white hair. "Congratulations on being chosen by a Sekirei to join our little game, Uzumaki-san. I wish you luck in the difficult days ahead."

Naruto looked surprised by the man's words. "Do I know you?"

"Not personally, but I would hope you'd recognize me. I'm always in the newspaper, and I'm sure your father has mentioned me before," the man said, looking offended.

"Minaka Hiroto, the C.E.O. of Mid-Bio Informatics," Naruto said knowingly, earning a smile from the white haired man.

"It's good to see that you're sharper than your grades would suggest," the man said, making Naruto shake his head.

"Hello Director," Tsukiumi greeted, looking over Naruto's shoulder.

"Number Nine, it is good to see you. It was surprising news to hear you have been winged. It was unexpected before Stage Two."

She merely looked away, not deigning to reply.

"Now as you can imagine my time is precious, so please listen carefully to what I have to tell you, Uzumaki-san. The Sekirei Plan is the name of the game you are now participating in. The rules are simple, there are one hundred and eight freed Sekirei. They will fight each other until there is only one left standing. The last Sekirei and Ashikabi shall be permitted to _ascend_ and hold the world's fate in their hands." The man smiled a bit maniacally. "Pretty cool huh? All this fate stuff?"

Naruto decided not to interrupt the man. From what his father had said, Minaka was a man that hated to be interrupted and tended to ramble whenever someone did so.

"As a member of the Sekirei Plan, you have a responsibility not only to participate but to keep it a secret. Should you reveal this information, I will use all the resources of MBI. to punish you. Is that clear?"

"I got it," Naruto said, sighing. Honestly, he did not know who he would tell even if he had not been told to keep it a secret.

"Have a nice day," the man said before he hung up, causing the phone's screen to go black.

"How'd he know that you were winged anyways?" Naruto asked, looking at Tsukiumi curiously.

"There is little that he does not know," Tsukiumi told him. "Besides, has it not occurred to thee that our encounter went unnoticed by the public, even though it was in the center of the street?"

Naruto had to admit that he had not considered that before. It should have attracted plenty of attention, yet no one had noticed.

Shaking his head, he decided to worry about that later. The present was what matter now.

Looking around, he saw that he would most likely need to get a bigger apartment, especially if Tsukiumi was going to live with him. The apartment would serve them well enough for a night or two though. He did wonder about one rather important detail though.

"So where are you going to sleep tonight?" he asked, changing the subject. "I only have one bed here."

She looked at him oddly as she heard his question.

"Surely thou jest. I am thy wife. 'Tis only proper that we share a bed. But make no mistake. I may be thy wife and Sekirei, but sleep is all that shall occur this night."

Naruto just nodded dumbly. He had not expected her to take it quite that far. He had never slept in the same bed a girl, so it seemed that he was in for one different experience.

* * *

Author's Note: There's one chapter down. It was pretty enjoyable to write. Tsukiumi is definitely a fun character to write.

Anyways, I suppose I should clarify a few points now that the first chapter is over with. This is a fusion story. For the most part, all the Naruto characters exist in this world, but they aren't ninja and don't have chakra. Some might say the protagonist is just an OC named Naruto, but people are welcome to draw their own conclusions.

Just so no one is caught off guard, five Naruto characters will show up as Ashikabi, while ten will show up as Sekirei. I won't give you advance warning on who they are though.

Now, the protagonist of this story is Naruto, and he will most likely end up with a total of two Sekirei. Naturally, he will be paired with his Sekirei too. While Naruto is the protagonist, Sahashi Minato is an Ashikabi in this story, and he will still be a prominent character. He just won't be the focus of it.

Thank you for taking the time to read this story.


	2. 2 Adjusting

**2. Adjusting**

Waking up with a blonde bombshell in his bed was the last thing Naruto had expected to experience anytime soon. That said, it was definitely welcome.

She had slept on her side next to him wearing a set of somewhat revealing blue night clothes. As she slept, she had pressed herself against his left arm with both of her arms wrapped around it. His arm was actually asleep still, though it was probably for the best. He had a feeling that Tsukiumi would beat him half to death if he was inappropriately touching her while she was asleep, after all.

After a few minutes, he reluctantly decided to get up. Slowly extricating himself from the bed, he moved over to his closet and quickly dressed himself. He was not the type that cared much about looking stylish. Sneakers, jeans, and a plain t-shirt worked well enough for him.

Once dressed, he headed to the kitchen and started making pancakes. It was a favorite of his, even if it was not a traditional Japanese breakfast. His mother was not the most talented woman in a kitchen, so she typically made pancakes for breakfast when he was growing up. They were rather easy to make, after all.

Just before the last pancakes were done, he heard footsteps.

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Tsukiumi step into the kitchen, already dressed. "Husband, what is this?" She sounded confused, a fact that made Naruto quite relieved.

"I got up first, so I thought I'd make some breakfast," he told her before hesitating. "You do like pancakes, don't you? I probably should've asked before I started cooking."

"It is a wife's duty to cook for her husband," she told him, though her eyes lingered on the stack of pancakes that he had already made.

Surprisingly, Naruto did not feel the desire to point out that they were not married. The bond between Ashikabi and Sekirei appeared to be even stronger than that of husband and wife. At least as far as he was concerned. After all, he could actually sense her emotions through the bond.

That was not to say that he did not react to her words though. Instead, he found himself almost laughing. Judging by the look Tsukiumi shot him, he had a feeling that she could sense his emotions as well. "That might have been a wife's duty once, but things have changed. You don't have to do anything you don't want to. If you want to cook for me, I'm not going to complain, but I don't mind cooking for you either."

Picking up the spatula, he moved the last of the pancakes from the frying pan to the plate and then fixed a plate for him and Tsukiumi.

"You never did say if you liked pancakes though," he said, looking at her curiously.

"I have never had any," she replied, looking away. "I will overlook thy trespass into my duties this time, but do not expect it to continue."

As she said that, she took one of the places from him and moved to the table so they could eat.

That actually made him smile. She was definitely unique among the Tsundere that he had met before.

* * *

It was somewhat amusing to see Tsukiumi's confusion as to how to eat pancakes. The only reason he had forks in his apartment was to eat pancakes with, and it seemed that Tsukiumi had never used one before. Naturally, it did not take her long to figure it out since it was fairly obvious, but the short moments of genuine confusion on her face were cute.

"I guess we need to go looking for another place to live," Naruto said once they were finished. The apartment was great for a single guy, but it did not seem big enough if he was going to have someone else living with him. "I'll probably need to get a better paying job if we're going to get a nicer place though."

"You are proving to be wise, husband. However, it will not be necessary to obtain a new job," Tsukiumi said before showing him a black card. It said _MBI Member_ on it. "All Sekirei were given one of these. They do not have a limit and therefore can be used to take care of all our expenses."

Naruto was not a prideful person. He did not once think to refuse her offer out of some misguided attempt to prove that he was a man or capable of looking after himself. He was more pragmatic than that. As long as he was not sacrificing his morals in the process, it did not matter where the money was coming from.

"Sounds good to me. Before we go looking for another place to live, I need to pay someone a visit though," Naruto told her. "One of my mother's friends runs this boarding house in the city. I wanted to stop by and see her today anyways, and she can probably help us find a place to live."

She looked at him curiously, and he instinctively knew what she was wondering.

"I wouldn't want to live at her boarding house though. She's best friends with my mother, so anything I did or said would get back to her. Since the Sekirei Plan is supposed to be a secret, it's probably best if we didn't have someone around that would pay attention to what we're doing."

He decided not to mention that the main reason he had no intentions of living there was because Miya had a strict policy on no _illicit activities_ and he did not want to get in trouble for breaking her rules.

"Very well. I will come with you," she said, looking him firmly in the eyes.

He wanted to tell her that it would be best if he went by himself, but he knew that she would not listen. He would just have to come up with an explanation so that he did not get in too much trouble over the situation.

* * *

The pair's first stop after leaving Naruto's apartment was Izumo Inn. It was a fairly nice boarding house in the northern part of the city.

When they arrived, Naruto was met at the door by a beautiful purple haired woman dressed in a kimono.

"Naruto-kun, it is wonderful to see you again," she greeted with a smile. Looking at his companion, her eyes seemed to narrow for a split second. "And who is your friend?"

"This is Tsukiumi. She's my girlfriend," Naruto told her before Tsukiumi could say anything. His Sekirei was not happy about being referred to as such, but he had warned her that introducing her as his wife to his mother's best friend would have been a very bad idea.

"It is a pleasure to me you, Tsukiumi-san," Miya said. "My name is Asama Miya."

"Likewise," Tsukiumi said politely, though her tone sounded somewhat forced. "Naruto tells me that thou has been a friend of his mother's for years."

"Indeed," Miya said, not saying anything about Tsukiumi's way of speaking. "Kushina and I met through our husbands when they both still worked at MBI."

Her words seemed to surprise Tsukiumi a great deal.

"My husband has since passed on, but Kushina still visits at least once a month," Miya continued. "As her son and his girlfriend, you will always be welcome here."

She led them to the kitchen as she finished speaking.

For a while, the three engaged in idle conversation, not discussing much of anything. Miya had explained that she was having a few new tenants at the end of the week, but that was about the most exciting thing she had to say.

After nearly an hour passed, Naruto decided to broach the important subject at hand though.

"Miya-chan, do you know of any houses that are for rent in the area? My apartment's a little small for the two of us, so I was hoping I could find a small house to rent," Naruto asked.

"Oh my, you two must be serious about each other," Miya said, hiding a smile behind the sleeve of her kimono. "I'd offer to let you stay here at the boarding house, but Kushina would be very displeased if she learned I was letting you live together with a girl under my roof. However, I may know of a few places that you could rent in the area. But if I help you, you have to stop by more often and visit though."

"Thanks," Naruto said, genuinely thankful. "I'll be sure to stop by at least once a week."

"Thank you as well, Miya-san," Tsukiumi said, slightly bowing her head.

In the end, the pair found a nice two-story house within a half of a mile from the Izumo Inn. It was rather expensive, but they actually went ahead and outright bought the house with Tsukiumi's card.

They spent the rest of the day moving everything from Naruto's apartment to their new house and doing some shopping.

Overall, it was a nice day, despite nothing eventful happening.

* * *

Author's Note: Well, I can't say I'm happy with the way this turned out. It being so short is only one part of it. I was working on this chapter even before I posted the story, yet I just couldn't seem to get it to work right. So I ended up making it a fillre chapter to bridge the gap between the first chapter and what is happening next in the story.

Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing. It is always nice to see that someone enjoys reading my work.


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